Freedom Call - Beyond |
Published February 17 2014
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Union Of The Strong |
| Genre | Power/Melodic Metal |
Chris Bay
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Vocals
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| Tracks | 14 |
Chris Bay
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Guitar
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| Running time | 60 Min. |
Lars Rettkowitz
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Guitar
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| Label | Steamhammer/SPV |
Ilker Ersin
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Bass
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| Release | 24 February 2014 |
Ramy Ali
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Drums
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| Country | Germany |
Chris Bay
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Keyboard
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| Producer | Chris Bay, Stephan Ernst | ||
| Similar artists | --- | ||
With long-time gone bass player Ilker Ersin back in the ranks on a permanent basis, replacing Samy Saemann, this unit feels more complete again. It's like a little back to basics and what originally made this formation to what it is. Last year, drummer Klaus Sperling departed as well and left room for his replacement Ramy Ali that fulfills the duties behind the kit on this band's eighth full length studio album in fifteen years.
Beyond covers much of Freedom Call's past efforts. A few of the songs, or at least many parts, seem to hail all the way back to the band's debut Stairway To Fairyland. With patented choirs, riffs and melodies, the resemblances are evident, although the pertinent atmosphere naturally is different after all these years and records. Today's possibilities and techniques offer a new approach and this new release is absolutely not an attempt to copy themselves. This is more fresh and vivid, even if it's pretty similar in the end to what's achieved earlier.
I didn't expect a total makeover and I honestly can say that I don't look for a renovation either. Like with most of this outfit's earlier releases, this one also breathes optimism and cements the clear position as happy metallers. It contains a few outstanding tracks like the epic title track and the powerful Paladin. When seeing the rest, it's rather common on a high level, but without any massive impressions that could make me hopeful that Chris Bay and his crew once again are able to produce fantastic metal albums like Eternity again.
The songs are consistently pretty strong, but I'm not fully convinced of the album's total greatness and its ability to create comfort. I perhaps raise the bar to heights nearly impossible to reach, because it's still a good and somewhat accurate record nonetheless, worth 7 full chalices. Freedom Call fans will probably feel at ease with this effort and I definitely like it as well, but it doesn't make me wanna jump up high to hit the ceiling like some of the past work did.
See
also review of: Master
Of Light , Land
Of The Crimson Dawn , Ages
Of Light 1998-2013 , Legend
Of The Shadowking , The
Circle Of Life , Eternity
, Crystal Empire
See also: interview
with Chris Bay
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Performance
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Originality
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Production
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Vocals
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Songwriting
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6 |
4 |
6 |
6 |
7 |
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Summary
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7 chalices of 10 - Tobbe |
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